1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement structure of a parking brake lever and an arrangement structure of an operating lever in a vehicle such as a saddle-type vehicle.
2. Description of Background Art
JP-A-2005-1511 discloses a structure in which a bracket is secured on the left side of a handle bar of a motorcycle, and a clutch lever and a parking brake lever are supported by the bracket in a state in which respective axes thereof extend parallel to each other.
In the structure shown in JP-A-2005-1511, ease of operation of the parking brake lever is achieved because the parking brake lever is locked only by rotating the parking brake lever toward the clutch lever with the operator's left hand while gripping the handle bar with his or her right hand when operating the parking brake lever. In addition, even when a parking brake is kept in the locked state when starting the vehicle, since the parking brake lever comes to a position in which the rotation of the clutch lever is restrained when operating the clutch lever, ease of recognition of the locked state of the parking brake lever is also achieved.
In addition, in the structure according to JP-A-2005-1511 described above, the ease of recognition of the locked state of the parking lever is achieved because the clutch lever is arranged on the handle bar, and the operator's hand comes into contact with the parking brake lever when operating the clutch for starting the vehicle. However, in the case of a vehicle having no clutch lever on the handle bar, to make the operator aware of the locked state of the parking brake lever in association with the operation performed before starting the vehicle such as the clutch operation cannot be expected. Therefore, in the arrangement of the parking brake lever on the handle bar in a vehicle having no clutch lever on the handle bar, a structure which achieves the ease of recognition of the locked state of the parking brake lever is desired.
In the structure according to JP-A-2005-1511, when the parking brake lever is brought into an unlocked state, the parking brake lever is positioned so as to extend forward of the handle bar along the handle bar. However, in this arrangement, the parking brake lever is prominent in appearance and hence it is far from being arranged favorably around the handle bar.
Problems relating to the ease of recognition of operating state of the parking brake lever or the arrangement thereof are not limited to the parking brake lever, but are applicable generally to various operating levers.